The debate over childcare, an ongoing struggle affecting working-class Americans, has circulated throughout the university more than once in recent years. This wasn’t always the case, though, as UMass Boston used to provide childcare through the Early Learning Center.
The first version of this center was originally established in 1972 on Clarendon Street at the Young Women’s Christian Association. This was only temporary, and in 1975, a second center opened in Harbor Point in what is now the Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester.
The earliest primary source of UMass Boston’s Early Learning Center dates back to March 5, 1974, in an open letter by a group calling themselves the “Day Care Coalition.” This letter voices frustrations with the UMass administration over the quality of child care at the newly opened center.
According to the letter, 300 people filled out an interest form for childcare through the university, and just 30 spots were granted, with only 15 being at the location on campus. The coalition cited dangerous conditions, no accommodation for children over the age of 4, and a lack of restrooms.
It also pointed out that “nails from unfinished construction work extrude from the walls and floor,” and “dangerous electrical outlets” were present.
Despite worries about the quality of care, the Harbor Campus Daycare Center was upgraded, expanding its capacity to 60 children. The center created fond memories, as shown by a photo gallery in The Mass Media from 1984 showing the children trick-or-treating at offices across campus, including the chancellor’s.
At one point, members of the hockey team would go annually to read to the children. “This is our third year in a row, and we really enjoy doing it. I think we have more fun than the kids,” men’s hockey coach Peter Belisle said in a 2011 article in The Mass Media.
The Mass Media reported that the Early Learning Center was “going strong” in 2000, but this changed in 2002, when UMass Boston withdrew $250,000 from the daycare’s budget. This came after a change in administration, including a new chancellor, Jo Ann Gora, in 2001. The cut was also part of wider budget cuts to the UMass system. The change sparked outrage, as members of the community “made their way up to Chancellor Jo Ann Cora’s office last week to protest the university’s withdrawal of funds,” as reported by The Mass Media.
The Black Student Center hosted a “fashion banquet” alongside the Queer Student Center and the Undergraduate Student Government, then called the Student Senate, in an effort to raise money to keep the daycare open, according to a May 1, 2003 article in The Mass Media.
An article from a month prior also mentions that there had been a 5K race with the same goal. At this point, the Early Learning Center was responsible for 61 children and was ordered by administration to be self-sufficient by July 2003 after struggling with the 2002 budget cut.
The Early Learning Center fought for the next 14 years before UMass Boston announced its closure, set for Dec. 19, 2017, as reported by The Mass Media. Months later, the paper reported on plans of a Boys and Girls Club opening in its place, which stands to this day.
As UMass Boston slowly recovers from the 2002 cuts, there are no current plans to revive the Early Learning Center. Even still, the center survives in the hearts of those who regard it with fond memories.
